How to Roast a Lamb_ New Greek Classic Cooking - Michael Psilakis [13]
Throughout the summer we had abundant harvests. What we didn’t eat, we’d bring by the bagful to our cousins and friends. What they couldn’t eat, we’d preserve, pickle, and dry for the winter. Nothing went to waste.
As summer drew to a close, we left a selection of each type of fruit and vegetable on the vine to grow to immensity. These would not be for eating, but for harvesting seeds to provide for next year’s garden. When the zucchini were nearing two feet in length and as many as ten inches around, we would pick them, split them down the middle, and deposit them in the sun to dry out on our old picnic table. As the flesh of the zucchini dried, the seeds became more accessible and easier to harvest—the beginning of next year’s garden. We did the same for everything that grew in our garden. To my father, part of providing for and nourishing his family each year entailed preparing his garden for the following year. He could not have had this year’s garden without the last, and he would not have next year’s garden without this one.
“You see these seeds?” my father would ask me as he held out a handful of tomato seeds he had carefully placed on a paper towel for me to examine. “Remember these seeds, because we’re going to fold this up and use them for next year.”
The recipes in this chapter are a taste of my childhood summers. I hope you’ll delight in them as I did with my family then and still do today. You will make salads that can be served either as part of an array of side dishes, or as single accompaniments to almost any kind of protein, whether cooked fresh or left over. These dishes have a tremendous amount of flexibility. At my mom’s table, we didn’t plate the food. Everybody sat down at the dinner table and reached for whatever she had made—four or five dishes on the table at once. We were a family and we ate family-style. Welcome to my family!
WILD BITTER GREENS, ROASTED PEPPERS, GRILLED ONION, OIL-MARINATED DRIED TOMATO & KEFALOTIRI
AGRIA PIKRA HORTA ME PSITES PIPERIES, KREMMYDIA STIN SCHARA, LIASTES TOMATES, KEFALOTYRI
SERVES 4 TO 6 AS A SIDE DISH, OR MORE FAMILY-STYLE, AS PART OF A LARGER SPREAD
Very, very simple. This is one of the most versatile salads I make. It goes well with any protein, and it functions like a vegetable and salad all in one. If you are doubling or tripling this dish—or any of my salads—for a large party, serve the dressing on the side, so that if there are any leftovers you can keep the greens fresh and bright. Once a salad is dressed, the vinegar begins to break down the greens and they’ll wilt if not used in a very short time. If you know you’ll eat all the salad right away, go ahead and toss with the dressing. If you use artisanal-quality oil-marinated roasted red peppers and artichokes from a jar, this recipe takes you almost no time at all and the result will be almost as good as if you made your own from scratch. Just be sure to buy premium European brands, and get the best greens possible. This is a fantastic side salad for grilled souvlaki. And by the way, souvlaki—shish kebab—doesn’t have to be pork or chicken; it can be beef, or lamb, or swordfish, or scallops, or shrimp.
1 small head frisée
2 cups baby arugula leaves
1 recipe Grilled Onions (page 270)
1 large fire-roasted red bell pepper (page 270) home-roasted or store-bought, cut into strips
6 large sun-dried tomatoes, cut into thick strips
4 cloves Garlic Confit (page 264), optional
3 pieces Artichoke Confit (page 267), halved, or 6 halves oil-marinated artichokes from a jar, halved again
2 tablespoons small, picked sprigs parsley
2 tablespoons small, picked sprigs dill
6 leaves fresh mint
½ to cup Red Wine–Black Pepper Vinaigrette (page 273)
2 ounces kefalotiri cheese, shaved with a vegetable peeler into large shards
Wash the